New Bonsai Help

[Brockie1996]

Hi! I’m new to Bonsai, just recently bought a bonsai from a garden centre and the tag says it’s a Ficus Retusa (Banyan Fig). Gave it its first water the day I bought it as the soil was very dry. The foliage seems to be healthy, nice and green and there is a lot of signs of new growth. I am looking for advice more about the soil and the size of the pot and whether it looks like it’s going to need re potted this year from what you can see, I have goals with this tree and I am really looking forward to getting to know it! I appreciate any information I can get on this, thank you

 

[MSU JBoots]

Conventional advice is to repot it into more of a traditional inorganic bonsai soil as that appears to be strictly organic. That could wait if you still have good drainage and it’s not staying wet too long. As for the size of the pot if you want to keep it small then you can keep it in a smaller pot. If you want a bigger tree then a larger pot will help.

 

[Brockie1996]

Hi, thank you for your reply! I will definitely look into that. The drainage is very good, I bought this tree on Sunday, I watered it on Sunday night and the soil is a little bit moist now (starting to dry) so will be watering again tomorrow. That’s 4 days between watering but I understand that can change also and it’s a case of monitoring it on a daily basis

 

[pandacular]

Hi, and welcome to the forum! I recommend adding your location (can be general) and USDA climate zone in your profile. Click on your username in the upper right, then go to account details and fill it out. This really helps with advice you may receive.

This tree is a great start for a young ficus. I agree with JBoots, my first order of work would be to repot it in the summer. Most trees are repotted in the spring when they start growing, but tropicals are best done in the heat of summer. Once your overnight temperatures are consistently about 50ºF, this tree should be outside.

 

[Brockie1996]

Hi, my apologies I did not think of that! I’m actually in the UK. South near London

 

[Brockie1996]

Is anybody able to tell me if this type of bonsai mix is going to be fine for the ficus that I have? Thank you

 

[MSU JBoots]

Traditional soil mix is akadama, lava, and pumice. I personally don’t have any trees in akadama because it is expensive and my trees aren’t that nice. That soil likely will be just fine.

 

[Brockie1996]

Thank you, I’m just coming to terms with it and slowly learning and getting advice. The soil it’s currently in drains very well, there is definitely no mesh covering the drainage holes so I will be keeping an eye on that.

I’m sorry for all the questions lol im trying to learn more about the tree so I can be better looking after it and having a long future with it!

In the pics of my tree, the base of the tree on the left hand side where the thick part of the base is protruding out of the soil, does that look alright for it? Is it supposed to look like that?

 

[pandacular]

Is anybody able to tell me if this type of bonsai mix is going to be fine for the ficus that I have? Thank you

This will do well. When you get more trees (like in the 10-20+ range) it starts making sense to source and mix your own soil. Often, younger trees do fine in a mix with some organics, which can cut costs. My teacher does coco coir and either pumice or perlite for young material that is to be grown out.

Any soil discussion is likely to get bogged down in debate. Try something, see how it works, go from there.

 

[Brockie1996]

Thank you I’m definitely going to look into it in the future. I’ve lifted it out the pot a little bit to inspect the roots and it is not pot bound at all so I may leave it, it seems to be growing fine with plenty of new growth showing! My goal is to be able to gain some aerial roots on it but that will come in time as I get to know the tree a bit better

 

[Rhomer1]

I have been using Bonsai Jack soil mix for about 15 years with good luck but I am a newbe with the soil mixes. You can get it on Amazon.

 

[Michael P]

In the pics of my tree, the base of the tree on the left hand side where the thick part of the base is protruding out of the soil, does that look alright for it? Is it supposed to look like that?

As far as the health of the tree goes, it is not a problem. Later as you settle on a design for the tree, you may decide to change it. This is a somewhat advanced technique but ficus tolerate serious root work well.

BTW, the correct scientific name for your tree is Ficus microcarpa. Knowing this will reduce some confusion because people on this forum mostly use F. microcarpa instead of the common but erroneous F. retusa.

Good luck with your tree! It is the start of a fascinating journey.

 

[Brockie1996]

As far as the health of the tree goes, it is not a problem. Later as you settle on a design for the tree, you may decide to change it. This is a somewhat advanced technique but ficus tolerate serious root work well.

BTW, the correct scientific name for your tree is Ficus microcarpa. Knowing this will reduce some confusion because people on this forum mostly use F. microcarpa instead of the common but erroneous F. retusa.

Good luck with your tree! It is the start of a fascinating journey.

Thank you so much for your reply! The tree definitely looks healthy plenty of new growth showing, I’ve only had it for a week so I’m not really doing much to it as of now I’m just monitoring it letting it settle in, and watching it grow getting to know it.

It is not root bound at all yet, but the soil is definitely mostly made up of what looks like a general compost style soil? There is probably a correct term for it but it is not the soil mixes that I have seen online so I may think of re potting it in a month into some proper bonsai mix?

Thank you for clarifying that it is a Ficus Microcarpa, the tag it came with said Ficus Retusa. That helps me a lot to do research, I am looking forward to watching it grow and helping it turn into something hopefully impressive!